When my bike, Praline, was on the carport I would find all kinds of stuff in her basket. My mom would leave empty flowerpots, newspapers, and recyclables in the basket. The recyclables I didn't mind so much because I rode to the recycling center a lot, but what were the flowerpots about?

Maybe because I always have a bungee net over my basket nothing ever gets left in it. Once, though, I watched a tweaker in San Diego for a full 10 minutes while he tried to decide to plunge his hand through my net and into my basket to steal my water bottle. The little nervous dance he did the whole time was very entertaining. He eventually decided the bungee net was too much of a barrier for him and walked away : )

I, too, have noticed that the bunji net is a pretty good barrier for most folks, but (amazingly) the ultimate in basket security came when I finally made a rain resistant nylon basket cover. It stays on the basket because it is fitted, and it is easy to pull up for access to the basket - but no one does. If they can't see something they want, they leave it alone. I leave all sorts of essential things in there (gloves, rain gear, food, etc.), so this is good. The ultimate test was leaving the bike on the corner in downtown Seatle for several hours on a Saturday night. When I came back, someone had left a lit cigarette on the basket cover, burning it a bit, but everything was still there. The hole is patched, and all is good. Val